YGO:  The Curse of the Black Crown
by Maat's Feather
Summary: If pirates be your fancy, seek ye no further for here is a short sea yarn, er silly quasi xover fic…Yarhh.


**Disclaimer:** Well, I think it goes without saying that YGO and POTC do not belong to me but are the property of Kazuki Takahashi and Disney.

_An: A little bit of an explanation is owed here for this fic to make sense. It is not meant to encompass the entire movie, rather it centers one of my favorite scenes in the first movie. I wanted to see how the YGO characters would fit in POTC roles. English names were used -cringe- I know. Oh, and please grant me one more indulgence and pretend, for a moment, that Solomon Mutou and Yugi are not related. Solomon just seemed so perfect for the role of Mr. Gibbs._

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Searching for a Crew

Captain Duke Devlin eyed the scruffy lot with disdain. "_This. _This is the crew you've rounded up for me?" he hissed out the side of his mouth. He wasn't entirely convinced the ragtag bunch standing on the dock before him could navigate their way out of a bathtub let alone sail after a ship crewed by the damned.

Mr. Solomon couldn't miss the distaste in the captain's voice. "You can't expect better on such short notice," he replied and defensively crossed his arms across his chest. But before the exchange could become more heated, a small cough from Yugi interrupted their bickering. The young man cast meaningful glance towards the lineup. Duke and Mr. Solomon followed Yugi's gaze and shuffled a little uncomfortably as they were reminded they had an audience. Grinning and nodding genially, they turned their attention to the expectant sailors.

"Let's get this over with," Duke muttered under his breath as he adjusted his hat and the sash at his waist before walking over to do the inspection. He strode over to his potential crew and struck a pose he felt not only looked commanding but showed off his good side to boot. The captain's green eyes turned steely as he surveyed the men. "So you think you have what it takes to sail as one of my crew, eh? You think you have the courage to confront danger that will rock you to your very _soul?_ You think you can look death in the face and laugh? Because I'll tell you, I expect no less." He paused for dramatic effect before singling out one of the candidates. "You, sailor, what is your name?"

The sailor in question was a strong man a good foot taller than Duke with thick arms folded over a large bare chest and a tattooed face set with an expression of deadly calm. He tipped his head and dropped his gaze to meet that of his interrogator. "I am Odion," he replied in a deep, rumbling voice and assumed his previous stance. Odion, apparently, had nothing else to say.

Duke probably would have felt intimidated if he were a lesser man, but he was the captain after all so of course he didn't. Or at least if he did, he certainly wasn't going to show it. Instead, he cleared his throat. "Strong silent type. I like that," he said as he made to continue his inspection.

"He's a good sailor, and so am I," came a voice next to Odion.

Duke paused and looked over to the blond man addressing him. "And you are?"

"Marik," the other answered cheerfully. "Odion is my older brother." He playfully slapped the back of the tree-like man by way of confirmation.

Duke quirked an eyebrow and tried to make out the family resemblance. Whereas the older of the two was tall, muscular, and stoic, the younger was smaller, lean, and engaging. In short, they seemed nothing alike. It was all giving Duke a bit headache so he decided to move on. He clapped Marik on the shoulder. "Just make sure you keep him out of trouble," he said with mock seriousness.

Marik gave a wide grin. "Oh, you don't have to worry about _him_."

Duke could have sworn he saw a glint of…something, mischief perhaps, in the other man's amethyst eyes. He released Marik quickly as if burned and nodded a little uncomfortably. "Right then."

A little further down was someone else who caught his attention. More accurately, he couldn't have avoided him even if he wanted to. A dark haired man grabbed his hand and began pumping it vigorously as he introduced himself.

"Mako Tsunami at your service, Captain."

Duke managed to extract his hand and delicately wiggled his fingers to make sure they still worked. Mako seemed to take no notice and snapped back to attention. "I'm a fisherman by trade but looking for a little adventure," he continued. "You'll want me on board. No one knows the ocean like I do." He lowered his voice so the others couldn't hear. " I have a connection with it."

Duke gave him an uncertain salute back. He was beginning to wonder if there would be a single sane person in their crew. "I…see. Good, then." When Mako didn't drop his stance, Duke added, "Uh, at ease, sailor."

Turning from the men at the end of the lineup he put his palm to his face in exasperation. Through his fingers, he saw Yugi looking at him expectantly. Duke sighed. Moving closer and lowering his voice he said, "Even with your limited experience with the sea, you have to know that this," he tipped his head towards the sailors, "is not going to work."

Yugi's face fell. "But it has to! We have no other choice. We have to save Téa."

Duke stood with his arms akimbo and looked ready to protest, but Yugi was going to have none of that nonsense. "You can't back out now," he continued. "I got you out of jail. You owe me this much."

"I _owe_ you…"

"Yes, you do," interrupted Yugi. "Please. I need your help if I'm ever going to find the Black Crown and rescue Téa from Captain Bakura."

_The Black Crown…Damn_, thought Duke. Yugi had him there. Just the though of _his_ ship in the possession of another made his insides turn. Even with his strong inclination towards self-preservation, he couldn't deny that he did indeed want to go after Bakura – badly. The Black Crown ship was his raison d'être, he worked hard for it, without it he was the same as everyone else - not to mention Yugi's sob story of true love lost tugged unrelentingly at his romantic side….Duke dropped his arms. "Fine. But just so you know, I'm not happy with this arrangement."

Yugi couldn't help the broad smile that crossed his face. He gave Mr. Solomon a triumphant thumbs-up when Duke turned round and shouted at the sailors, "Alright you lot, you're all hired! I want you scabrous dogs on board and the ship ready to make waves in two hours!" He turned back to Yugi and gave him a pained look as if what he had done caused him great injury.

Yugi, however, knew better. "Thanks, Duke."

The Captain smirked. "Yeah, yeah. Don't say, I've never done anything for you."

"Hang on! I'm coming too," shouted a voice from behind them.

Duke looked past the small, young man before him. His eyes widened and his smirk dropped from his face. "Oh, Mai," he said quietly.

Yugi turned and saw who Duke was staring at. Not ten feet away was a beautiful blonde woman with a duffle bag slung over her shoulder. And she was striding purposefully right toward them. "Oh my, indeed," breathed Yugi.

Duke shot him a look of annoyance. "Not 'my'. Mai, you…" The sound of a bag being dropped by their feet, however, caused him to forget what he was saying and look up. " Mai Valentine!" he greeted her with a forced smile.

The woman gave Duke a sour look. "What do you know? You remember my name. Glad to see you didn't forget all about me, Devlin."

Duke decided now would a good time to turn on the charm. Facing down a disgruntled woman was never a pleasant experience, after all. "Mai, darling, I'd never forget you. What could have possibly have given you that idea?"

Heaving a frustrated sigh, Mai addressed Yugi and gesticulated wildly. "Can you believe the nerve of this guy! He comes up to me with this great plan to go pirating, what ships he knew were vulnerable, where they'd be. It was fool proof, he said. All he needed was a boat. Like a dummy I agreed to team up with him," she glowered at Duke, who did his best not to cringe. "It worked for a while. Then one day at port, I went to collect supplies; he went to find fresh crew, but took off in _my_ boat instead, and never came back," she snarled.

"I'm here now aren't I?" Duke replied smoothly, fingering a lock of hair. When Mai's expression didn't change, he decided to try a different tact and brush off the incident as no big deal. " Oh, you know how it goes. Something came up. One thing led to another and…"

"Let me guess," Mai interrupted. "That something happened to be wearing a scarlet corset and it got you all distracted, made you forget who you were supposed to be waiting for."

Duke placed a hand to his heart. "Mai, you wound me. How could there ever be any woman in my life but you?"

"Cute, Dev." She smirked then glanced around the bay. "So where is it?"

"Where is what?" he asked innocently.

Mai's eyebrows shot up; she was instantly suspicious. "My boat," she said and crossed her arms.

"Your boat…" he answered slowly and toyed with the die hanging from his ear.

"You lost it?"

"No! I didn't lose it," Duke waved his hand searching for the right words, "per say."

Mai's eyes went wide. "You sunk my boat, didn't you!" There was no question in her voice.

"_I_ didn't sink it!" said Duke, hands raised defensively.

Mai jabbed an accusing finger into Duke's chest. "You _sunk_ my boat!"

"Well, yelling isn't going to bring it back!"

"He'll repay you, Miss Valentine…I promise." Both Mai and Duke turned to Yugi. Duke was trying to discretely shake his head at Yugi, but Mai caught him in the act.

"You bet he will. He'll pay me back by letting me join his crew." She glanced from Duke to Yugi and back again. Her expression softened. " Who's the cutie?" Yugi felt his cheeks burn crimson.

"Uh, oh, this is Yugi Mutou," answered Duke distractedly. "But Mai, you really might want to rethink this. I don't think this little voy-age is for you…"

Mai's eyes narrowed suspiciously. "I know you, Devlin. You're up to something, something big, and I want in on it. You owe me." With that, she shouldered her duffle bag and began walking to the ship, effectively cutting off any additional arguments.

Duke did the only thing he could. With as much dignity he could muster, he bowed deeply to her retreating form. "Welcome aboard our ship of fools."

Mr. Solomon, who had been hanging back during Mai's confrontation, sidled up to Duke and said in a low and serious voice, "Captain, I really don't think we should let this woman join."

Duke looked resigned. "Too late, Mr. Solomon. She's already made up her mind." He began walking to the ship as well to see to the preparations.

"But, Captain. I must protest…" tried Solomon again though to no avail. He huffed when he got no further response.

Yugi cracked a smile. "Mr. Solomon, you can't mean you think women on board bring bad luck." He couldn't hide the laughter in his voice.

"Not women in general, just this woman in particular," Solomon sulked. "She means back luck to me."

"Why's that?"

"…because, I owe her money."

"Hey, Solomon!"

They turned to see Mai waving to them from the deck. "Solomon, you old sea dog, it is you!" called Mai. "I believe we have a debt to settle!"

-end scene-

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Comments? Questions? Let me know what you thought. 


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